Another one of baseball's big ticket players came off the board late Monday night. The Texas Rangers won the Yu Darvish sweepstakes by bidding a record $51.7 million for the rights to negotiate a contract with the right-hander. The Cubs reportedly submitted a bid and if they were interested ... they can forget Yu. The speculation and rumors figure to increase over the next 24-48 hours in the wake of the Rangers posting the winning bid on Yu Darvish. Texas was one of the teams rumored to be … [Read more...]
Cubs Offer Arbitration to Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena
According to multiple reports, the Cubs have offered salary arbitration to Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Pena. Players have until December 7 to accept or decline salary arbitration. The Cubs did not offer salary arbitration to Kerry Wood, Reed Johnson, Ramon Ortiz, Rodrigo Lopez or John Grabow. The Cubs are expected to re-sign Kerry Wood to either a one or two-year contract and are rumored to have interest in re-signing Reed Johnson. … [Read more...]
Weekend Update … The Second Week of the Epstein Era
It figures to be another big week for the Chicago Cubs. Jed Hoyer is expected to be introduced as the Cubs new general manager no later than Tuesday. Once the Hoyer announcement is out of the way, the Cubs should turn their attention to Mike Quade and the coaching staff ... while dealing with the personnel on the field. Ryan Dempster picked up his 2012 option Saturday and next on the options list ... Aramis Ramirez and Jeff Samardzija. The Cubs will reportedly pick up their part of the mutual … [Read more...]
Talkin’ Cubs Live – Cubs vs. Brewers – 09/21/11
Game One Hundred Fifty-Six: Cubs (68-87) vs. Brewers (91-64) Game Time - 1:20pm CDT Coverage - TV: WGN TV - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 187 Location - Wrigley Field, Chicago Matt Garza (8-10, 3.51/1.29) vs. Randy Wolf (13-9, 3.45/1.28) The last game of the season at Wrigley Field ... The Cubs will suit up for the final time this season in the clubhouse at Wrigley Field ... and many of the players will be playing their last game as a Cub at the Friendly Confines. John Grabow, Rodrigo … [Read more...]
Brewers Rough Up the Cubs Pretty Wells – Cubs 1 Brewers 5
Game One Hundred Fifty-Five - Cubs 1 Brewers 5 WP - Shaun Marcum (13-7) LP - Randy Wells (7-5) Save - None The Cubs played their final night game of the year at Wrigley Field ... and it ended up as another sloppy loss for Q's Cubs. After playing one of their better games of the month on Monday, it was back to the norm for Q's Cubs on Tuesday. Bad pitching, poor defense, no patience at the plate and not a single hit with runners in scoring position (0-for-5 with RISP, five left on … [Read more...]
Talkin’ Cubs Live – Cubs vs. Brewers – 09/19/11
Game One Hundred Fifty-Four: Cubs (67-86) vs. Brewers (90-63) Game Time - 7:05pm CDT Coverage - TV: Comcast SportsNet - Radio: 720 WGN, XM Radio Channel 187 Location - Wrigley Field, Chicago Casey Coleman (2-8, 7.06/1.87) vs. Chris Narveson (10-7, 4.40/1.37) Updated 3:18pm CDT - Cubs selected contract of catcher Steve Clevenger. Clevenger was added to the 40-man roster and called up from Double-A Tennessee. Cubs Recalled RHP Rafael Dolis from Double-A Tennessee. With the addition of Steve … [Read more...]
Coleman Can’t Cut It – Cubs 2 Reds 7
Game One Hundred Forty-Nine - Cubs 2 Reds 7 WP - Sam LeCure (1-1) LP - Casey Coleman (2-8) Save - None For the second time in his last six starts Casey Coleman could not complete four innings of work. The Reds rocked Coleman on Wednesday night because Coleman could not throw quality strikes again. After a very good first inning, Coleman started pitching from behind and leaving everything up. Coleman issued three walks and all three scored on extra basehits from Ramon Hernandez and Juan … [Read more...]
Cubs Win a Marathon in the Big Apple – Cubs 10 Mets 6
Game One Hundred Forty-Six - Cubs 10 Mets 6 - 11 innings WP - Ramon Ortiz (1-2) LP - Josh Stinson (0-1) Save - None On an emotional night at Citi Field that featured a phenomenal tribute and remembrance to September 11, the Cubs jumped out to an early lead but could not tack on. The Cubs led 4-1 as late as the sixth inning but the Mets plated two against Matt Garza in the sixth and tied the game in the eighth on an error by Jeff Samardzija. The Mets loaded the bases in both the ninth and … [Read more...]
Rambling While Wondering About the Future
It's Friday, it is time to ramble, and I have enlisted the help of fellow Cubs fan Ben Miraski this week. I thought I could bring some more views to the ramblings edition. Plus, he is not nearly as optimistic as I am. And this column needs some balance every now and again. So, let's get to it. … [Read more...]
Too Little, Too LaLate – Cubs 2 Reds 4
Game One Hundred Forty-Two - Cubs 2 Reds 4 - 13 innings WP - Aroldis Chapman (4-1) LP - John Grabow (3-1) Save - Francisco Cordero (31) Tuesday night was all about Mike Leake and the inept Cubs' lineup ... until two outs in the ninth. Mike Leake was in total control and appeared to be well on his way to the first complete game shutout of his career. Leake tossed eight innings of one-hit ball and had faced one over the minimum on 74 pitches, 54 for strikes. The Cubs had managed only three … [Read more...]